This disclosure relates generally to archery and more specifically to bowfishing reel seats that are employed when harvesting fish with a bow and arrow.
Bowfishing is the taking of fish by means of a bow and arrow. This ancient hunting technique is presently a popular and growing sport, a novel way to put food on the table, and a tool to aid in the reduction of unwanted or invasive fish species. State of the art bowfishing reel seats are derived from a variety of previous devices. U.S. Pat. No. 1,980,317, (Clark et al.), discloses a fishing reel secured with a movable sleeve. While suitable for use on a fishing rod, the Clark et al. device is unsuitable for bowfishing applications. The movable sleeve of Clark et al. is constrained to a fixed longitudinal axis and is only capable of sliding along the shaft and not rotatably about the shaft itself. The Clark et al. sleeve is threaded and requires a mating coupler, thereby increasing the cost and weight of the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,197,908 (Hirsch), discloses a reel seat fastening scheme while U.S. Pat. No. 3,589,350 (Hoyt) discloses an attachment mechanism for use with an archery bow. These devices require the use of locking rings which can result in unwanted movement of the reel and which cannot be sufficiently tightened without causing damage to one or more parts of the reel seat. A further disadvantage is the use of jamb nuts which can easily loosen. The jamb nuts create a weakened region and also increase the overall length of the reel seat.